The pidgin idiom says, “monkey see, monkey do.” And yet there are times when the monkey does not see, but it finds itself doing, without reason or understanding; following some apparition which compels it to act. Why are there times when it feels as though there is a force pushing us towards the direction and actions of the very things that we do not want to do?
In times gone by, when you were younger; you may have hated that dad never paid attention to you, or maybe how he abandoned you, was an alcoholic, a womaniser, or sometimes an abuser. Maybe you hated how your mum was always depressed, or never worked, or never helped you when you needed her, or never stayed with dad or any man. Or maybe you hated that dad and mum gave up before you had the ability to hatch and form your own shell. They were supposed to nurture and protect you until you developed your own shell, becoming your own person. But they gave up and left you raw without an identity.
But despite how much you hated them, here you are, an older version and shell-less soul of the person you aspired to be when you were younger. In your grown state, because you were not given the opportunity to form fully, you find yourself in dad and mum’s image, despite telling yourself that you would never be like them. The worst part is, that maybe you don’t even realise that you are wearing their image. Or if you do realise it, you don’t know how you ended up here; in their shoes. These very shoes that you vouched never to wear, and now in the light of the shoes, you look just like what you so hated.
The apostle Paul put it eloquently when he said, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate, I do. …I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. …I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing… Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. …but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me” (Romans 7:15-24).
The answer may seem complicated, but we only complicate those things which we do not wish to understand. Sometimes ignorance may seem better than knowledge and lies prettier than the truth, but in the end, they all lead to destruction. The apostle Paul’s affliction is one bore by all humanity, for we were all born sinners. In Romans 5:12 it is said, “Therefore, just as through one man’s sin entered into the world, and death through sin, so death spread to all men, because all sinned …”. This shared human affliction is explained in Psalm 51:5, the odds appear to be against us because we were brought forth in iniquity.
Because of one man’s sin, Adam and Eve, a curse was born. A curse whose strength for destruction, for the generations, is as strong as death. And whose jealousy for our likeness in God, is as cruel as the grave. This curse is never satisfied. It hungers as the grave, the barren womb, and land which is never satisfied with water, and as fire which never says, ‘Enough’(Proverbs 30:15-16). Since the inception of this curse, it hunts and chases down generation after generation, for a father’s sins, to the third, and even, the fourth generation (Exodus 34:7).
But the answer to the why remains simple: because in our fallen state, the curse remains hereditary, triggering the known and unknown. Monkey see, monkey do, and sometimes, monkey don’t see, but monkey still does. In the biblical world, this is known as a generational curse – the passed down ties to imperfections and spiritual wrongdoings from parents, placed upon ancestors unwillingly. The discussion to this is lengthy, but the solution is simple: one man!
The One who died a gruesome death to take up our sins and those of our fathers and ancestors, including all the generational curses. This man is Jesus. To this man, Galatians 3:1–14 says, “But Christ [Jesus] has rescued us from the curse … When He was hung on the cross, He took upon Himself the curse for our wrongdoing. For it is written in the Scriptures, ‘Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree.’” When we enter into relationship with Jesus, His blood washes and purifies us from all sins and curses. 1 John 4:15–16 says, “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so, we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love, lives in God, and God in them.”
Generational curses cannot be overcome by mere willpower or luck, but only by the blood of Jesus and Him abiding within us. When Jesus lives in us, anything that tries to harm us must first go through Him. But because Jesus has already conquered sin, the grave, the forces and curses that may be; nothing can harm us; “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Romans 8:31). If you are sick and tired of doing the same thing repeatedly and want it to stop with you, then it is time to give it to Jesus. It is time to not only see, but do. As it has been said, “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, and yet expecting different results.” Let us make a new choice in Him.
©Katie Mliswa and MomentsbyKatie.M, 2018.
